The desert winds kicked up this afternoon, and swirling dust filled the air around the Indian Wells site. At one point, your intrepid reporter, while struggling to keep his cap on his head, made the mistake of opening his mouth and found his chewing gum mixed distastefully with desert dust. Fortunately, most of the players had completed their matches before the conditions got this gusty.

Along with the dust, big news was also swirling. Martina Hingis has been having growing problems with tendinitis in her right wrist for the past week, and cut short her afternoon practice session to have it examined by WTA trainer Michelle Gebrian. The Swiss star, seeded #2 here, has withdrawn from the doubles (she was to team with Anna Kournikova), and is listed as "probable" to compete in singles. Tournament director Charlie Pasarell, already without the services of four of the top seven player s, is surely holding his breath.

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Monica Seles (4) def. Maria Sharapova (WC), 6-0, 6-2
Second round
Stadium
Previous head-to-head: first meeting

Meghann Shaughnessy (6) def. Martina Müller, 6-2, 6-4
Second round
Stadium
Previous head-to-head: first meeting

The first two seeds to taste action this fortnight made their appearance this afternoon in second round action. Sixth seed Meghann Shaugnessy faced the feisty German teenager about whom we told you yesterday, Martina Müller. Müller was appropriately feisty, but not quite good enough to match strokes with the American, and Shaughnessy won with relative ease, 6-2, 6-4.

Then Monica Seles, the fourth seed, took the court against the 14-year-old wild card whose successful WTA début was one of the big stories of yesterday, Maria Sharapova (pictured at right). However, Monica Seles is no Brie Rippner, and it was a fairly short day for Sharapova, who lost 6-0, 6-2. Rest assured that the Florida-based Russian junior will be back many times with much greater success in years to come.

Eva Dyrberg (Q) def. Zsofia Gubacsi (Q), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
First round
Court 6
Previous head-to-head: first meeting

This week we had the pleasure of meeting a tennis fan named Bill, who faithfully attends this tournament from beginning to end every year. Bill likes to pick out a player who impresses him the most during the qualifying tournament, and then eagerly follows her progress in the main draw. As our faithful readers know, On The Line also likes to adopt an impressive qualifier in a similar way during our tournament coverage.

This year, Bill's choice was 20-year-old Hungarian Zsofia Gubacsi, while On The Line adopted 22-year-old Dane Eva Dyrberg. As fate would have it, they collided in the first round. Only one of our heroines would be left standing. As it turned out it was our Eva who emerged victorious, mainly thanks to a bit more mental toughness and her ability to make tactical changes on the fly.

We discussed Dyrberg in Tuesday's report. As for Gubasci, she is a trim, fit-looking 5' 8" native of Budapest, who gained notice when, ranked #109, she was the surprise winner of the Casablanca tournament last year. Zsofia has a good serve, flat, penetrating groundstrokes and a killer backhand down the line.

In the first set, it look like Bill's Zsofia had the key to beating Dyrberg. The Hungarian was sending Dyrberg scrambling from side to side, not allowing her opponent to get set up for her trademark forehand drives. Add to that an effective serve: Dyrberg never had a break point in the entire set. It was a fairly convincing display by Gubacsi, as she rolled to a 6-3 lead.

Gubasci had a letdown at the start of the second set, and began misfiring on her groundstrokes to allow the Dane to take a 2-0 lead. But Zsofia regrouped to pull level at 2-2. Gubacsi now had Dyrberg on the defensive again, and when she broke serve to take a 4-3 lead, it looked like the end was near. In the next game, however, Dyrberg changed tactics. She started taking the pace off her shots, even throwing in a few moonballs on one point. By alternating off-speed shots with hard blasts, she had brok en the Hungarian's rhythm, and finally capped a long, four-deuce game with a service break to level the set at 4-4. Gubacsi now looked increasingly unsure and edgy. Serving at 4-5, Zsofia double faulted on set point, and the match was even.

Dyrberg smartly continued the change of pace strategy in the third set, and it continued to pay dividends as an increasingly unconfident Gubacsi was now being constantly worried on her service games. Dyrberg got the crucial break in game four, taking a 3-1 lead on a ripping forehand return winner. Gubacsi never got back on track, and Dyrberg steamed through the rest of the match, closing it with a service winner on her first match point.

So, make the final: 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 Dyrberg. Gubacsi's admirer Bill graciously admittedly that Dyrberg was an impressive player, stronger mentally, with good size (5' 9", or 1.75 m) and a big weapon on the forehand side that could worry the better players. You will be glad to know that we did not gloat, since we were also impressed with his girl's talent. Next up for Dyrberg, a stern test in the person of a solid and able veteran, #11 seed Magdalena Maleeva, in the second round.

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Wandering in the desert

Natasha returns

Semi-retired legend Martina Navratilova turned up with in the doubles draw as we expected, but not with the partner we anticipated. Reports earlier this year indicated that Martina would be paired the talented Czech teen Daniela Hantuchova, but the recently retired doubles great Natasha Zvereva has turned up to act as Navratilova's doubles partner. The popular pair's practice sessions have drawn huge throngs. We shall keep you posted as to their progress here.

Daniilidou looms large in the draw

Much of the buzz at the site this week has concerned the hulking presence on the practice courts of rising Greek star Eleni Daniilidou, who received much attention when she took a set from Jennifer Capriati at the Australian Open. The 6-foot (1.82 m) Daniilidou got her first match action today, and made short work of Adriana Gersi, 6-1, 6-4. The Greek powerhouse hammers the ball ferociously, and makes no attempt to be dainty about it. We'll have more to say about Daniilidou this we ekend, as her second-round match with 22nd-seeded Ai Sugiyama could be quite intriguing.

Injury woes for Brandi and Suárez

Martina Hingis was not the only player with injury worries. American Kristina Brandi injured her wrist and was forced to abandon her duel with Katarina Srebotnik today. Meanwhile, it was an ankle injury that did in Argentina's Paola Suárez during her match with Tatiana Poutchek. Suárez led by a set and a break when she took a nasty fall, turning her left ankle. In the next game she seemed to aggravate the problem during a frantic sprint to her right after which she pulled u p limping. Although she tried to "tough it out", Suárez was never the same thereafter, and Poutchek rolled to a 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2 win.